What happened after?

'Brief Gaudy Hour' by Margaret Campbell Barnes

2008-09-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Not another "I wonder what happened next..." because this one has a very definite ending. I'm just mentioning it as it's one of my all time favourite historical novels and nobody else seems to have read it :-(

It's all about the life and death of Anne Boleyn. Yes, there are about a trillion other novels based on her story but this one is really, really lovely. It's beautifully written, not overly sentimental and not overly long either. The political and social background is explained but not in heavy, plodding detail that gets in the way of the story (Philippa Gregory is terrible for this). It has quite a delicate touch, I guess. Anyway, I absolutely love it. It's perfect 'comfort reading' - ideal for rainy afternoons indoors curled up on the sofa with the cat and lots of tea and hob nobs.

'The Last English King' by Julian Rathbone

2008-09-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, poor old Walt. Not the most uplifting of endings really. What could he possibly have done to survive after coming home to find his entire world destroyed like that? Maybe he'd have gone abroad again but with what money? Or become a serf in the new feudal system under the Norman lords? It's hard to imagine him accepting that fate, I think it's more likely that he would have commited suicide after he found the bodies of Erica and their child and realised that it was all over for him and he had nowhere left to go. I wonder how long Erica had been dead - if Walt could have protected her if he'd stayed in England after the invasion.

'The Greengage Summer' by Rumer Godden

2008-09-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well, the obvious one here is about what happened to Eliot. On the last page, it's pretty clear that they caught him - but was he guillotined for murdering Paul? And did Cecil give evidence against him? Did he ever know that it was Joss who sent his photo to the detectives? It's absolutely horrible to think of but I reckon they did execute him, seeing as the body had been found. I really hope that Cecil didn't have to tell the police what she saw, but have a feeling that Uncle William would have forced her to do the right thing and make a statement! Poor Eliot, I couldn't help feeling sorry for him in spite of it all. Not as much as I felt for Paul but sorry all the same...

'The Crimson Petal and the White' by Michel Faber

2008-09-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love this novel but was practically driven mad wondering what happened to Sugar after she left Rackham's house, having kidnapped/rescued his daughter Sophie. Did she go back on the game for a while, in order to support them? Did she take Sophie overseas somewhere, so as to avoid capture? Did she become a published writer after all? And what about poor Agnes? Was it her body that Rackham identified or did she survive to start a new life in the convent?

I tend to think that Sugar would have gone back to prostitution as an occasional thing, but that she wouldn't have returned to her old life completely. She would have seen the occasional gentleman when necessary but only very discreetly, and Sophie would have known nothing about it.

As for Agnes, I think she did drown in the river and it was her body that was shown to Rackham :-( Don't know why, I just have a feeling that it was her and that something terrible happened to her after she ran away. So, so sad.

About this blog

2008-09-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I finish reading a book that's really absorbed my attention, I find myself wondering what 'happened' to the characters after the story ended. This is particularly true when there isn't a neat resolution of all the plotlines at the end - Michel Faber's 'The Crimson Petal and the White' is a perfect example and if you've ever read it, you'll know exactly what I mean! So I've started this blog as an outlet for my own musings about what Sugar may have done next, and about characters from other novels when the ending's been a little enigmatic.